Next Era to Buy and Phase-out Coal Plant
NextEra Energy, Inc., the parent company of Florida Power & Light (FPL) filed a petition with the Florida Public Service Commission in early March to request approval to purchase Cedar Bay Generating Plant. Cedar Bay is a 250 MW coal-fired power plant located in Jacksonville, Florida. FPL has been purchasing power from Cedar Bay since 1988, but it is owned and operated by CBAS Generating Company, LP. The plant produces relatively high amounts of carbon dioxide and at a higher cost when compared to other state electricity generators. FPL plans to buy it for $520 million then phase out its electricity production to 10% of its current levels over the next 3 years. FPL is committed to shifting its generation base to include more renewable and natural resources. This transaction would help FPL keep its clean power commitment to its customers and comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.

PJM Analysis Encourages State Collaboration in Developing Compliance Plans
PJM released a study earlier this month that concludes that a regional approach to complying with the Clean Power Plan will be more cost effective for states than going it alone. Their analysis included running 40 different compliance scenarios through a predictive model that produced an output of a single price as dollar per tons of CO2 for the entire PJM region. The report stated that, "State-by-state compliance options, compared to regional compliance options, likely would result in higher compliance costs for most PJM states because there are fewer low-cost options available within state boundaries than across the entire region.” The results indicate that between 6,000 and 31,000 of MW of existing generation (primarily coal-fired) will be retired by 2030, with the middle of the road scenarios estimating retirement of 16,000 MW. The next phase of the study will involve analyzing the reliability implications of the expected plant closures.